The present invention relates to transmitting information from a hazardous environment to a relatively safe environment and more particularly to digitally transmitting dosimetry data from a radioactive area to a remote non-radioactive area.
In hazardous environments such as controlled surface contaminated areas of radioactivity, there is a need to monitor the level of radioactivity being emitted from a radioactive source without the danger of exposing personnel to the radiation.
While radio transmission could be used to communicate dosimetry information from a radioactive area to a safe site which is remote from the radioactive source, range of transmission, interference and security concerns limit its usefulness. Direct cable connections could be utilized but such an approach suffers from the inherent limitation of not being adaptable to varying equipment configurations and the potential danger for the spread of radioactive contamination when hardwired equipment is used and moved from one place to another in a restricted area.
While optical communications systems using infrared carrier transmission are generally known, their use to reduce radiation exposure to personnel working in or around radioactive areas is not believed to be known.